CUMI inaugurates new R&D centre at Industrial Ceramics unit in Hosur

Bangalore, 27 August 2016: Carborundum Universal (CUMI), one of the leading players in the world in the area of Material Sciences and a part of the Murugappa Group, today inaugurated its state-of-the-art Research and Development centre in its Industrial Ceramics Division facility in Hosur. This was inaugurated by Shri MM Murugappan, Chairman of CUMI and Vice Chairman of Murugappa Group, along with Shri K Srinivasan, Managing Director of CUMI, and Shri Rajesh Khanna, President, Industrial Ceramics division of CUMI. Shri Jitendra J Jadhav, Director, CSIR & NAL, Bangalore and Shri D K Das, Associate Director & Outstanding Scientist, SAC – ISRO were the Guests of Honour in the ceremony.

This facility boasts of advanced equipment for material characterization, microstructural analysis, finished component analysis and other critical areas, supplementing the existing R&D activity of the unit. It is certified by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Govt. of India. It will be a Centre of Excellence for research in Technical Ceramics for Industrial & Advanced applications, and will serve to address CUMI’s aspirations to grow in Wear Resistant & Technical Ceramics including Metallized Ceramic range of products. This new R&D Centre would further strengthen the platform of competency for sustainable growth & Market Leadership of Wear Resistance & Technical Ceramic products in selected segments.

Speaking on the occasion, CUMI Chairman and Murugappa Group Vice Chairman Mr MM Murugappan said, “We are very happy to be a part of the advancing technology and research in the area of material sciences. We look forward to more activity in the areas of Mining, Cement, Steel, Colliery, Paper, Agro, dredging for Wear Ceramic Vertical & Space, Defence, Automobile, Defence, Power distribution segment for Technical Ceramic verticals, and are well-poisedto bring technologically advanced materials to address global market requirements, in addition to supporting the domestic industry

Mr K Srinivasan, Managing Director –CUMI said,“At CUMI, we endeavour to bring the best of innovation and technology to our consumers. We look forward to using our capabilities and understanding of the customer requirements, to deliver better quality, cost-competitive products to ourcustomers. It has been CUMI’s endeavour to develop new and advanced materials for a wide range of cutting-edge applications. Our vision is to be a leading global player in the field of advanced ceramics by 2020. We believe that this new R & D centre is a very important step towards that”

Some recent advancements in the research areas of CUMI’s Industrial Ceramics division are as follows:

· Development of novel Composites for structural applications, to open up new application areas and new business avenues

· CUMI – IC has partnered with IIT – Madras for the development of Technology for making Nano-Ceramic products for structural & functional applications under NATAG – DST, scheme. It is a joint development & established the facility for Nano-ceramic characterization at the newly created NFMTC Facility in IIT – Madras.

· CUMI – IC R&D has also taken up joint collaborative Project with CSIR – NAL for the Technology of Nano-Ceramic thin tape development, which when stabilised and commercialised can help target new application segments in clean energy segments.

· As part of indigenization of technology, CUMI – IC has also entered into Transfer of Technology Agreement with SAC – ISRO for the development of Thin Film Coating Technology for Dielectric Ceramic applications